AP Government | Unit 2 Study Guide
Political Beliefs & Behavior
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Chapter 6 Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice
I. The Nature of Public Opinion
A. How Informed is Public Opinion?
B. The Measurement of Public Opinion
1. Public Opinion Polls
2. Problems with Polls
II. Political Socialization: How Americans Learn Their Politics
A. The Process of Political Socialization
B. The Agents of Political Socialization
1. Families
2. Schools
3. Mass Media
4. Peers
5. Political Leaders and Institutions
6. Churches
III. Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically
A. Cultural Thinking: Common Ideas
B. Ideological Thinking: The Outlook of Some
C. Group Thinking: The Outlook of Many
1. Religion
2. Class
3. Region
4. Race and Ethnicity
5. Gender
6. Age
7. Crosscutting Cleavages
D. Partisan Thinking: The Line That Divides
IV. The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy
Chapter 7 Political Participation: Activating the Popular Will
I.
II.
Voter Participation
A. Factors in Voter Turnout:
The United States in Comparative Perspective
1. Registration Requirements
2. Frequency of Elections
3. Party Differences
B. Why Some Americans Vote and Others Do Not
1. Civic Attitudes
2. Age
3. Education and Income
C. The Impact of the Vote
Conventional Forms of Participation Other Than Voting
A. Campaign & Lobbying Activities
III.
IV.
B. Virtual Participation
C. Community Activities
Unconventional Activism: Social Movements and Protest Politics
Participation and the Potential for Influence
Chapters 6 & 7 Important Terms & Concepts
1. Political culture
2. Characteristics of American political culture
3. Political Socialization
4. Agents of political socialization
5. Political ideology
6. Economic liberals
7. Economic conservatives
8. Cultural (social) liberals
9. Cultural (social) conservatives
10. Libertarians
11. populists
12. Liberal, Conservative, Moderate
13. Party identification
14. Ideological battlegrounds
15. Types of political participation
16. 4 forms of participation –not voting - campaign, lobbying, virtual
participation, community activities
17. Reasons for low voter turnout in America
18. Factors that tell us who REALLY votes
19. suffrage
20. Public opinion
21. Public opinion poll
22. population
23. Sample
24. Sampling error
25. Random sampling
26. George Gallup
27. Tommy Bradley Effect
28. Exit polls
29. Political participation
30. Demographics
31. Gender gap
32. Dilemmas of equality
33. Social (political) movements
34. Political typology
35. Apathy
36. Alienation
37. Civic duty
38. Registration
39. Social capital
40. Voter turnout